Schneider sacked by Stuttgart

Thomas Schneider has been relieved of his duties as Stuttgart coach, with former Schalke and Hamburg boss Huub Stevens taking over the hot seat.

Stevens will begin work on Monday, just a week after he was relieved of his duties as coach of Greek club PAOK Salonika.

Schneider pays the price for a run of nine games without a win, including eight successive defeats up until Saturday's 2-2 draw against Eintracht Braunschweig.

That run has left the club, who were last demoted to the 2. Bundesliga in 1975, in serious relegation danger.

"The board took this decision together with Thomas Schneider," said Stuttgart's president Bernd Wahler.

"The board of advisers are uniformly behind this. The current sporting situation requires awareness of the responsibility towards the club by taking this difficult step.

"Thomas Schneider is Stuttgart through and through and should continue working for the club in some capacity in the future."

It is already the second coaching change in Stuttgart this season, with Schneider previously replacing Bruno Labbadia after a poor start to the season.

His assistants Alfons Higl and Tomislav Maric have also been relieved of their duties.

Stuttgart could drop into the bottom three on Sunday if Freiburg beat Borussia Dortmund.

Stevens was in charge of Schalke until a just over a year ago, having guided them to third in the Bundesliga in his first full season back at the club he led to UEFA Cup glory in a previous spell in 1997.